1998–99 Southwest Missouri State Bears basketball team
| 1998–99 Southwest Missouri State Bears men's basketball | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 24 |
| Record | 22–11 (11–7 MVC) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coach | Brian Jones (1st season) |
| Home arena | Hammons Student Center |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Evansville | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 23 | – | 10 | .697 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Creighton † | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 22 | – | 9 | .710 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Missouri State | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bradley | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 17 | – | 12 | .586 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Illinois | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 15 | – | 12 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana State | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 15 | – | 12 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois State | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 16 | – | 15 | .516 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wichita State | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 13 | – | 17 | .433 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Iowa | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 9 | – | 18 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drake | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 10 | – | 17 | .370 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 1999 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1998–99 Southwest Missouri State Bears basketball team represented Southwest Missouri State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball during the 1998–99 season. Playing in the Missouri Valley Conference and led by head coach Steve Alford, the Bears finished the season with a 22–11 overall record (11–7 MVC).
In a season marked by several close losses (and wins), Southwest Missouri State received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 12 seed in the East region, where the Bears made a surprising run to the second weekend of the tournament. The Bears first defeated 5th seeded Wisconsin in the opening round of the tournament, holding the Badgers to 12 first half points, en route to a 43–32 victory. The 75 combined points between the Bears and Badgers resulted in the lowest scoring game in the history of the tournament since the shot clock was first implemented in college basketball. Furthermore, the 32 points scored by 18th ranked Wisconsin were at the time the fewest number of points ever scored by a ranked team in regulation during the shot clock era.
In the second round, senior Danny Moore delivered a 25–point performance to power the Bears to a shocking blowout of 4th seeded Tennessee to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history, where the Bears finally fell to the number 1 team in the nation and eventual National runner-up, Duke, 61–78.
To date, this is the deepest tournament run in school history. Following the season, Alford took the head coaching job at Iowa.